The Moment When
by GameOfFandoms
Summary: Not your average Percabeth meeting at high school story, hopefully. Percy; a popular kid that used to be bullied and abused, athletic, fairly smart, good looking. Annabeth; a beautiful girl that doesn't get noticed, extremely smart, a bit nerdy and shy. Both love music, sports and drama and, funnily enough, go to the same school. Not just Percabeth, there will be other ships!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Percy's POV

It was the first day of school and all that was going through my head was "Don't screw up Percy, this year you need to focus." It was true, this year I did need to focus, it was the start of a new me. I was at the halfway through high school now, Junior year, and I needed to think about my life after school. I know, I know, why are you so boring Percy? Who does this? But in reality I really needed to get a good job. Then i could begin to pay my amazing mother back for all the years of pain and sadness she had to go through. You see, my mother is the best thing to happen since, well, food, and that's saying something. Yes, before you say anything, I am a huge momma's boy, but that is honestly my opinion. My mom had to put up with my abusive step-father, Gabe, or Smelly Gabe as I called him, for nigh on eight years. He was the biggest asshole you could ever meet. He treated my mother and me terribly, beating us and treating us like crap. But mom had it worse. She had to put up with him night and day while juggling two jobs and university courses. I still don't know how she did it. At least I could get away from it all, sleeping over at a friends house, sometimes for the entire weekend, but mom stayed there and put up with him. I remember the day that she snapped...

**Flashback**

_I opened the front door only to be hit by the stench. Gabe's stench. It wasn't us that made this mess, not me and mom, it was always Gabe. It stank of rotten food, beer and smoke. As usual, Gabe was sat on the couch smoking, eating and gambling. Or losing our money, as it were. "Hi sweetie," came mom's voice from the kitchen. I hurried towards it, glad that she was home and I didn't have to face that lunatic alone. "How was school Percy?" she asked. She always asked, and she nearly always got the same answer in return, it was sort of a ritual or something, I don't know the right word. "Fine mom," I lied. It wasn't fine. It was the first year of middle school, 6th grade, of course it wasn't fine. I think she knew that, deep down, but my answer satisfied her. "Sally! Where's my bean dip?!" There he was, shouting at her and ordering her around again. This wasn't a marriage at all, it was slavery. "Mom, why do you do this to yourself?" I thought. She was a beautiful, smart woman, but she didn't finish college so she didn't get proper qualifications. As a result of that, she didn't have a good job, and no one that she deserved noticed her. Apart from my dad that is. A surfer named Poseidon. He wasn't wealthy, but he seemed like a good guy. At least, from what my mom tells me. I never actually met the dude because he died shortly after I was born, but mom loved him so that's good enough for me. "Sally! Bean dip!" ugh, that pig! Does he even care about my mother? No, of course he doesn't, he doesn't care abut either of us. At least he doesn't beat her though. I still have a scar on my back from the last time he was drunk. Come to think of it, that was three night ago. I'm glad he takes it all out on me though, I couldn't bare it if he hurt mom. "Coming dear, I'll just be a minute." Mom shouted. She walked out of the kitchen to deliver the filthy bastard his bean dip. Smash! I rushed in to see what had happened. The bean dip was dripping all over Gabe. Mom looked horrified, but i caught a twinkle of victory in her eyes. It's official, my mom is my idol. "What did you just do you insolent bitch!?" Gabe screamed at her. Then he looked around and saw me doubled over, clutching my sides. I hastily rearranged my face into a look of sympathy and concern. He didn't buy it. "I'm screwed." I thought as he charged towards me. As he reached me I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders. Soft hands. Slap! A shocked silence followed. I opened my eyes to see my mother sanding in front of me, with an angry Gabe breathing heavily in front of her. She had slapped him. Both of our faces paled as we __realized__what was about to happen. I'll spare you the details. It involved beatings from Gabe. I collected some new scars. We left. But just as mom and I reached the door he told me to wait there. I heard shouting and another slap, no, multiple slaps, and then mom came running round the corner, flushed, eyes gleaming, and we ran. We rented an apartment and lived on our own for a while, using money she had taken from Gabe's "Gambling Jar", which was well over five grand. Yet another reason she is my idol._

**End of flashback**

That event had happened a while ago now. From middle school all the way to junior year I had been happy. Well, as happy as I could be given the circumstances. Middle school pretty much sucked for me, I was bullied at home and at school. I was the least popular kid in school. I got beat up every day and my grades were horrendous. High school changed my life for the better. It's strange to think about that really, it's normally not the best experience. But over the summer between middle school and high school, I went to the gym, I became an athlete. Not gonna lie, I got pretty stacked. Then I hit high school. I made new friends, Grover Underwood, Leo Valdez, Charles Beckendorf, Connor and Travis Stoll, Frank Zhang, and eventually the girls that they went out with. We're a tight group now. I was amazed at the jump I had made, even my grades got better.

It was weird really, looking at our group you would have thought that we got low grades I mean, we were the typical jock stereotype; football players, the guys that messed around and made jokes in every class, and then the girls looked like they could be the typical bimbo that fell for the jocks, but surprisingly, we all had B grades and above. We were literally the coolest kids in the year, if not the school. Even the older kids respected us.

"Percy come on! You'll be late!" I jolted, realizing I had only thirty minutes to get to school, and I wasn't even dressed yet! I threw on some jeans, not caring about the small tear in the side, and an old AC-DC shirt. Yes, I was into music, I liked just abut anything except boy bands, Justin Bieber and classical. I don't mean to hate on any of those, but they just weren't my thing. I jammed my earphones and phone into my bag and rushed down the stairs. "There you are slowcoach!" mom yelled, "I've been waiting ages to see my baby before he goes to school!" I shrugged as if to say "Whatever" but i was too busy inhaling blue pancakes to speak. "Slow down, you'll choke if you keep eating like an animal!" I slowed down to snail pace, barely moving at all. She laughed and kissed my forehead, "Paul already left dear, he needed to get there early on the first day." I nodded, that sounds about right.

Paul Blofis, mom's new husband, was an English teacher at my school. I liked Paul, he was fun and good to my mom, which always earned bonus points with me, my mom deserves the best. Having Paul to help with the bills allowed her to finish her college course and she had gone on to write some impressive books, some of which I had input in. Between the two of them, they had been able to move into a swanky new house and we now had a lot more money than we needed. This had lead to the creation of a charity that specialised in helping single parents in a position lie the one we were in earlier on in our lives. Mom managed that from home, leaving plenty of time to write books, or even better, bake. I swear to the gods that my mom can make the best food known to man. Her cookies were my favourite. Of course, everything was blue, which we loved doing and sometimes I helped, or tried to, and we bonded over that. I finished eating and gave mom a kiss and hug goodbye before racing down to the garage to grab my motorcycle. I know, I know, motorcycle's are dangerous, but they are pretty cool and handy for getting around on. I customised the beauty myself, with help from Leo Valdez and Beckendorf, who are cousins and their parents own a huge garage a few blocks down. I swiftly drove towards school, narrowly dodging a girl with blonde hair and glasses. I chuckled and headed on down the road towards school.

**Authors Notes**

Did you like it? I hope so, there is more on the way! Please review, it would help me out a lot, even if it's criticism (but keep it constructive!) I know that there isn't much in this chapter but it was just an introduction chapter, I'll try and update this regularly and keep the story going. It will hopefully be over 20 chapters by the end of it.

See you next time!

Scott


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Annabeth's POV

Beep! Beep! Beep! Smash! I jolted upright in my bed at the sound of my alarm clock breaking. That wasn't good. Then I remembered what day it was. The first day of junior year! I couldn't believe it, I was halfway through high school! I jumped out of bed and ran into my ensuite to get a shower. I sang in the shower a lot, hence one of the reasons for me having my own one, my parents and siblings didn't like having to wait for me to finish singing, then get washed and then get out and dried before they could take their own shower. My rule was, if I start a song in the shower, I have to finish it. I wasn't too worried about this year. I had everything in order, I was a model student with top marks in almost every class, apart from drama and music because I don't really like performing in front of people. It's not that I'm bad at them, my teacher and friends tell me that I'm actually quite good, I just have confidence issues. My step-mom was making breakfast when I walked into the kitchen. We used to hate each other and she sometimes "forgot" to include me in family events like going to the movies, or dinner. But we turned over a new leaf in summer, and while we don't get on like best friends, we are polite to each other and we have started to form a mother-daughter bond. We go shopping together and talk about girl stuff, which is a real relief to get away from the boys. We are definitely outnumbered in our household, with my dad, my older brother Malcolm and the twins, Bobby and Matthew, a girl can use some feminine company. I wolfed down some breakfast in the fastest time I think I've ever eaten, I'm recovering from beating anorexia so it's quite a big thing for me, and grabbed my jumper. It was a light grey colour with a picture of some round glasses and a wand, with the words "You could have been killed, or worse, expelled!" on it. It matched my eyes perfectly. A unique colour to have for eyes, people tell me. I often wonder if that's true or if they are just boring. I slipped on some black converse and headed to the door, "Bye guys!" I yelled, wrenching it open. I got a jumbled reply of "Good luck"s, "See ya"s and "Bye Annie"s, the last was from the twins, the only two people that can call me Annie without getting punched or glared at.

The walk to school was good, I usually meet up with my friends, Thalia, Juniper and Calypso and we walk together from Thalia's place as she lives closest to school. But there was something before I even reached Cal's street, that happened. A guy on a motorcycle whizzed past just as I was crossing the road. "Jackass" I thought, and I heard him chuckle. Wait, did I say that out loud? I decided to shake it off and carried on to Thalia's house.

"Guys, over here!" I yelled as I saw my three best friends in the world waiting for me. We ran up to each other and met in the middle. Of a road. Not good. We hightailed it off the road before giggling like prechoolers and hugging each other. "How was your summer Annie?" Thals smiled, knowing what I would say to the nickname. "Not too bad, I missed you guys though." They nodded in agreement, Thalia looking slightly confused that I didn't bite before I added, "What about you Thals, good summer?" She frowned at the turn around of her plan before conceding the point and saying, "Not awful, not brilliant, I mostly hung around Jason and Percy and their-" she was cut off as Calypso interrupted "Jackson? Percy Jackson? What were you hanging around with them for? Got a crush?" she giggled. Thalia scowled, "In your dreams Cal! No, since you guys were busy, I spent a lot of time at the house out in the hills with Jason, and got to know a few of his friends." We nodded, it seemed legitimate. Thalia and Jason's dad was Zeus Grace, a rich businessman, so they had a house out past the city that was pretty awesome. There were multiple pools, a football and soccer pitch, a huge games room, a private cinema and a lot of other cool things, even a recording studio and a music room in the basement. I loved that place. "Well," Thalia said, we looked at her "Apparently Percy's dad and my dad are half-brothers with a dude called Nico's dad so they kind of co-own the house." She blushed slightly as she said Nico's name but we let it slide as we contemplated the idea. It seemed right, I mean, there was no way that house was built for just the Grace's. I had only met Jason a couple of times, but he seemed like a cool dude, not my type though. I had heard of Nico but never really seen or spoke to him. As for Percy Jackson, everyone knew him. Half of the girls at Goode, and a good hundred or so outside of it, spent days drooling over him. I admit, he was hot, and athletic, and quite smart, Annabeth snap out of it! All in all, I could see why they liked him, but he didn't seem to like anyone back, not that they noticed much.

We spent the rest of the walk gossiping and talking about school and the upcoming year. As we reached the gates we saw utter chaos. Two guys were slugging each other while a crowd egged them on, and the guys friends looked to be about to engage in a brawl themselves. As we got closer I realised that one side was Jason's friends and the other side were the jocks and guys that thought thy were "it". Don't get me wrong, Jason's friends aren't saints, they're insufferable at times too, but the other guys were the ones that were popular, but used it to their advantage and lorded over people. The two guys in the middle were Luke Castellan and Connor Stoll. Katie Gardner stood nearby screaming at the pair. I remembered now, apparently Connor fancied Katie even though she was going out with Luke. Something must have happened during the summer. Both boys were bloodied and bruised, hitting each other with sheer stubbornness as everyone else looked on. "Enough!" a powerful voice sounded, causing momentary silence. I expected to see a teacher but lo and behold Perseus Jackson and Charles Beckendorf. They stormed towards the fray and everyone took a step back. Connor and Luke were glaring daggers at each other but both had stopped fighting. The two groups of boys had different reactions. Jason's friends were smirking, Jason himself looked ore relieved than anything, but the other group now looked fearful. I can't blame them. Percy is pretty muscular and handy in a fight, but Beckendorf makes even some weight lifters look small. The guy is huge, 6' 6" and 170 lbs. of pure muscle. Beckendorf was one of the biggest kids in school. Nobody picked a fight with Beckendorf. The boys reached Luke and his cronies, and the group scarpered, leaving the crowd laughing and jeering at them as they fled. I couldn't help but smile a little as Luke and one of his buddies had pestered me one day and tried to pressure me into something I wasn't willing to do. I had refused and he had hit me, but a teacher walked round the corner straight afterwards so he had to let me go. I turned back to see Percy grab hold of Connor, who was starting to sway a bit, and between him and Beckendorf they steadied him, an arm round each of the two bigger boys. "Anyone else got a problem with our friends?" roared Beckendorf. He was met with silence "Didn't think so," He said grimly. "Now get moving people, nothing to see here!" and the crowd scattered. That went well, twenty minutes into the new year, one fight already. Oh boy, this year was going to be strange.

**Authors Notes**

Hey guys, how was that? I'm going to try and upload as much as possible but this week I have a Spanish exam to study for. I'm going to try and post at least 1 chapter per week from now on, it might be slightly more depending on the time I have. Please keep the reviews coming! Thanks a bunch for reading!

Scott


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi guys! So, I have taken into account the reviews that you have sent me and I have decided to reply on here:**

**Percibeth: Thank you so much for both of the comments, I like my name too!**

**Teacuppup: Don't worry, there will be no Thalico, I like Solangelo too. I just haven't got around to introducing Will yet. **

**Baconisluf: Thank you for the tip. As requested, the chapters will be longer from here on out, I just rushed to introduce both of the characters before the story really got going. Let me know if this one is long enough!**

**Thanks to you guys for reviewing, keep them coming!**

**Chapter 3**

Percy's POV

I couldn't believe that Connor would do something like that! It was totally unlike him to have a full on fight with a bigger dude. He was more the type to make fun of the dude and taunt him with witty remarks, then dodging whatever blows came, or just down right hiding in the shadows and pranking the guy with his brother. So for him to be fighting is a big development. I thought back to the girl they were "fighting over", Katie Gardner. She was pretty and funny, I could instantly see what the younger Stoll saw in her. When I say younger, it's really just a matter of minutes, but yes, Travis is five minutes older than Connor, so he is the youngest Stoll in effect. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen Trav today, I wondered where he was. Just then, Connor swayed more violently. Beck had cleared a pretty good path to the school building for us, but Connor wasn't making the trip easier. I adjusted him to get a better grip before pushing on to the nurse's room. The kids around us dispersed, and we breathed a sigh of relief. It was hard being popular, I know that sounds awful and snobby but I don't mean it to. We, as the "populars" are role models for the other students. We are expected to get good grades, perform well for our various teams and clubs, help the other kids out if they were in trouble academically or socially (this was because we were the nice guys, not like that douche Luke) and it was just so exhausting! We felt like we didn't really come across as ourselves anymore due to all of the stereotyping and judging by the other kids. It made it hard to make different friends, like, we couldn't get too friendly with the "geeks" because they would get bullied for being noticed, and we would be judged to be geeks ourselves. Not that there is anything wrong with geeks, I just hate being put into a box, be it popular, jock, geek, nerd, whatever, I just didn't want it. Being popular just isn't all it's cracked up to be. Ok, now that I've come across as a complete jackass and snob, I focused on Connor. He looked faint and there was blood streaming down the left side of his face. A lovely bruise was beginning to blossom on the right side of his jaw and there was a nasty looking scrape on his forehead. That, too, was beginning to drip with blood. He grinned manically, his eyes trained on me briefly. "Percy! Haven't seen you in ages bro!" He said, still grinning.

"Connor, we saw each other last week at your place." I told him exasperatedly (see, not just any jock could use that word, told you I was fairly smart). "Where is Travis anyway?" I questioned. His face fell. "Um, well, he's a bit under the weather..." He began, but quailed under my glare, I had been working on it over summer. It warned people to cut the crap and either get out of my way or start talking straight, depending on who the person was. "Ok, Luke broke his leg because he was talking to Katie while Luke was working. We were just chatting and then Katie was there asking Trav about the Geography homework they got for over summer, which was a presentation on volcanoes by the way, did you do it? You're in their class right?"

"Connor! You're babbling! Tell the story!" I yelled, putting a restraining arm on Beck, who already showed signs of going to find Luke and turn him into a pancake. I could understand the feeling, but I wanted to know the full story first.

"Ok, so Luke came out of the shop and asked Trav what he was doing and Travis said he was, and I quote this here, talking to a great girl about school work so could Luke please get the f# k out of here. And Luke didn't take kindly, it got heated and then Luke insulted mom. Travis snapped, but Luke's buddies came over and started whaling on him. I tried to run over but one of them stopped me." Connor had a tear rolling down his cheek now. Me and Beck were shaking with rage. I was so tempted to go and find Luke and all of his cronies and beat the living s# t out of them, but I didn't. I wanted to play this smart. There was no reason for us to get expelled or anything over this. We would get our revenge, and I realised exactly how. "Beck," I said to the hulking figure beside me. "I don't want you to go after Luke, I know, I want to kill him too," I added as he opened his mouth and made to protest. "Look, we'll get him back, have you not realised who the captain of the football team is?" I questioned and a look of realisation dawned upon his face. He grinned, and I resolved to make try outs interesting this year.

We dropped Connor off with the nurse, who had some very strong words to say about the matter. "Fighting!" she screamed "Fighting already! I can see I'm going to have my work cut out for me this year!" We left, uttering excuses and profound apologies as she began to patch Con up.

As we rounded the corner to enter homeroom we faced a lot of people. Like, a lot. Then I realised who they were and my face split into a huge smile. "Guys!" I cried "It's been too long!" and me and Beck jogged down the corridor to our friends. On my way I passed a group of girls, "Oh hi Thals." I said as I ran on. Her friends giggled as my cousin waved cheerfully back. I noticed one of them looked familiar. Blonde hair, glasses. The same girl I almost ran over this morning. The same girl who called me a jackass. I stopped and reversed, backpedalling, earning some confused looks from my friends who had moved forward to greet me and Beckendorf. "Hi," I said to her. She didn't meet my eyes as she responded.

"Ummm, hi?" she offered. Dam, up close, she was pretty, really pretty. Not many girls could make a faded Harry Potter sweater, a Hades load of books and glasses look cute, but she did. Snap out of it Perce! She's Thalia's friend! Thalia would totally hate me if I asked her out anyway, and I barely even knew her. All the more reason to stick around, I thought. No! I couldn't do that to Thals. Poor Thals, who was liked by barely anyone, I couldn't risk crewing up one of her only friendships. I could change that though. Back to the conversation Percy! I glanced at her again, and realised that she had looked up and was studying me with amazing, piercing grey eyes. They matched her sweater. "Look," I said, "I..." she was looking at me again, and I got lost in her eyes.

"Yes?" she prompted.

"I... I'm sorry for... Foralmosthittingyouwothmybiketoday." I rushed out. Her eyes widened.

"That was you?" she stammered, paling. Why was she paling?

"Hey Perce, you coming or what?" Beck and Jason called from down the hall. Saved by the idiots, remarkable.

"Yeah sure, be right there!" I hollered back, "Hey Thals, why don't you and your friends come sit with us at lunch? The field should be open today, it's good weather." She nodded, evidently pleased. "Ok great, meet us by the big tree nearest the football posts, you know, the one with your naaaame carved into it." I teased and then took off to see my friends.

"So Perce, who was that you were going all googly eyed over?" Teased my cousin Jason. He was a little shorter than me and had the same build. The major difference was our facial features. Blonde hair and blue eyes for him, black hair and sea-green eyes for me. "No one dude," I lied "Just apologising to her because I nearly ran her over on the way to school today, that's all." The girls, Piper McLean, Hazel Lévesque, Selina Beauregard and Reyna Ramirez Arellano sighed and awed at my "romantic gesture", as Piper put it. Piper was a cool girl, head of the cheerleaders and pep team, but not a girly girl, like Drew Tanaka. Piper was beautiful and liked clothes and all, but she didn't walk around with her face plastered in make-up. Piper was dating Jason and they had a great thing going, they went well together. She had dark, choppy hair that she usually braided and wore simple clothing that made her look both amazing and down to earth, she was a great girl, I'm happy Jason got so lucky. "Oh come on Percy, we all noticed how flustered you got back there." Hazel chipped in. She was Frank's girlfriend although she was a year younger than us. But she fitted in well and we liked her so we didn't care. "Yeah Percy, we aren't idiots you know." Remarked Reyna drily. Reyna was going out with Connor, surprisingly. None of us saw it coming either, but she kept him in line, so she immediately earned our respect after transferring from Spain. "Honestly guys, it was nothing, just a bit off after what happened to Connor." The lie worked and sobered them up immediately. "How is he?" Reyna asked, concern flashing across her usually neutral face.

"He's ok, sort of." I answered, choosing my words carefully, one wrong move could mean the world of bad news to them. "He was trying to make a joke out of it, but he may have a slight concussion, that's all."

"No he's not!" Beck said, and I groaned, "He was bruised and rip-" He cut himself off as Reyna's face morphed into a picture of sadness. "I'm kidding guys!" He amended weakly. Only Reyna bought it, she was distressed enough to accept what would be the worst joke ever if it meant that Connor would be fine. Selina, Charles' girlfriend and Piper's sister, sighed and put her hand on his shoulder. "He'll be fine Rey, Connor's tougher than you give him credit for." She said soothingly. "Yeah," said Piper "just relax a bit ok?" Those two sure have a way with words, they calmed me down and I didn't even feel stressed. "Remember those hits he took in football last year?" she added. Me and the guys winced at that. We had been playing our closest rivals in the league, Brooklyn Badgers, and they had got Connor hard. I mean, they got all of us, the guys were over six feet and built like Beck. We were mauled. But Connor took the worst. He got the ball and two of them came from opposite sides and hit him with a spear tackle. It nearly broke the kid in half. I swear that Connor walks funny because of it even now, a year later. Somehow, we won the game, but only by a touchdown in the last second, thrown by yours truly to Jason. One of our all time bro bonding moments. That and the awesome party at the Stolls' afterwards, I'm pretty sure everyone came. Everyone except a particular blonde girl...


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys I'm back with chapter 4! But first some responses to reviews...

CatsRcute: Thanks, I'll try to update every Wednesday!

Neko-chanTheGreat: I know right!

Teacuppup: I know, the nicknames for some of them are pretty weird, I'll try to tone them down a bit.

Thanks to everyone that favourited and followed!

**Chapter 4**

Annabeth's POV

Wait, did Percy freaking Jackson just ask us to hang out with him at lunch? The coolest kid in school wants us around? I'm not going to faint or anything like most girls do, I mean, he's hot, like heat of the sun hot, and muscular and dreamy... Annabeth stay focused! Ok, I totally fancy him. Ewww, since when did I become Drew? Anyway, it's not like it matters, he probably just meant Thalia but didn't want to offend us, which I think is kinda nice really. He is a nice guy though, always helping other people. He talks to everyone no matter what, though if it's people like Drew and Luke then it's through gritted teeth, but he never puts anyone down, he's always so... Perfect.

Leo Valdez is a great example of Percy's kindness. Leo got bullied a lot in the younger years. He has ADHD worse than anyone I've ever seen but I don't really know him. I don't really know anyone. Sure I could tell you their names and what they look like and probably a fair chunk of their school history, but I can guarantee that I've never spoken to any of them. But yeah, Leo got bullied until one day some of Luke's buddies were punching Leo, and Percy didn't like that, so he went over and helped Leo out. They have been friends ever since. Of course, when Beckendorf heard about it he was grateful to Percy for helping out his cousin. Percy didn't know about Leo and Beckendorf back then but he was happy all the same. They all work down at V and D's garage now, I see them hanging round, fixing up cars and working on their own too. See what I mean about him being so perfect? I swear, the kid can't put a foot wrong. He can joke around in lessons and still come out with a good grade, his parents have enough money to afford nice things for him, he's the star of football, swim and Zeus knows what else he does, he's helpful to every kid who needs a hand. At least, the ones who say they need help. I need help occasionally, not with school work, I'm way too organised and smart for that, but with other things. Social anxiety, which I am happy to say has been reduced now, although I'm not one for entertaining the masses or anything, making friends, having a life outside of school. All areas that I do not excel in. And none can be helped by books. I'm really glad I have the friends I have now, don't get me wrong, but even they have other friends, Juniper has a conservation club or something, Cal had made friends with Leo Valdez and hung out at the garage sometimes, although not on Percy's shift, maybe why he didn't recognize her, and Thals had Jason and the guys now. I just had them and no one else. But I don't ask anyone because I'm too prideful. That's my weakness, my "fatal flaw" you could say.

"Helloooo, Earth to Annie?" Thalia's voice snapped me out of my reverie. I hate her 'pet name' for me. And she knows it. "What did you just call me?" I questioned, lowering my voice and doing my best to try and intimidate her. She pretended to be scared before pushing me while the others laughed. I hadn't realised how much I had missed them until now, and I am honestly so glad to be here with them. Just then the bell rang for homeroom, the school year had officially begun and I am honestly looing forward to it. We hurried to homeroom with Mrs Sanders. She was an art teacher and seemed pretty nice to us. She was new this year, the old art teacher, Miss Rosa had left at the end of last year to get married. I glanced around to see who else was here. Obviously Thalia, Juniper and Calypso were here, but I recognised a few faces. None that I could match names to, but I felt familiar with them. We grabbed seats at the back near the windows and chatted until Mrs Sanders took attendance. Afterwards we pretty much had the run of the place, Mrs Sanders could see that we weren't bad kids so she let us do whatever we wanted. That is, until the timetables came around. "Class," she called in her soft voice, we all stopped at once to see what was up. "I have your timetables here, come and collect them from the front desk." She said, gesturing at the sprawl of card behind her. Everyone rushed over, eager to see what classes they had and who they shared them with. To my surprise, me and the girls all shared the first day together, all of the same lessons at all of the same times. Needless to say, we were pretty excited. "Aiyeeee!" screamed Calypso, drawing a lot of looks from the others. "We share all of today!" Like she needed to tell us, we were happy too, but we didn't need to shout about it. Thalia hid her head in her hands in embarrassment as we scolded Calypso and apologised to everybody. It earned us a few smiles and snickers but hey, we all have embarrassing moments, some of us more frequently than others.

The bell went, signalling the end of homeroom and everybody rushed off to their classes, chatting excitedly about the day ahead. It would all die down tomorrow of course, the novelty of new classes, new teachers and of course, seeing who was in your class. Me and the girls had history first with Mr Brunner. I had heard good things about him from Malcolm, who had had him before. He had told me to expect good things from Mr Brunner's class if I ever got him. He was certainly right. We were the first to arrive, seeing as our homeroom is only a couple of hallways away. There he was, stood at the door, grinning at us. "Welcome!" He said, I admit he looked nothing like a History teacher. He was tall, fairly good looking, but nothing to fantasise about. He had brown eyes, short curly hair and a well trimmed beard. If I had to guess I would say he was in his early thirties but he certainly could pass off for younger. "Go in, go in," He smiled, waving us in "sit where you want, I'm not bothered as long a you don't mess around too much." He stopped and looked at us thoughtfully "You don't look like trouble makers though, so I'm sure we'll get along just fine." I smiled nervously, I was already taking a liking to the teacher and he seemed really enthusiastic about his subject. Maybe he would end up like most of the others though, and get a couple of weeks in before dropping into a tired, bored and depressed state. Me and Thals sat next to the window, me behind her, about halfway in the classroom. We didn't want to come across as extreme nerds and sit right at the front with all of the seats available to choose from (A/N: NOT THAT THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH BEING A NERD OR SITTING AT THE FRONT OF CLASS, I AM GUILTY OF BOTH MYSELF ON A COUPLE OF OCCASIONS) but we also didn't want to come across as badasses that sat at the back not paying attention. People began to file in, Mr Brunner greeting them just as enthusiastically as he did us which caused many of the students to walk in with a bewildered expression, giving the rest of us something to laugh at already. The class was about half full and I was staring absent mindedly out of the window when Thalia turned round and poked me. I glared at her in annoyance but she just grinned and pointed at the door. I followed her gesture and saw in surprise that Percy Jackson was stood talking to Mr Brunner. They seemed to be quite familiar with each other. Percy must have had him before, I reasoned. Percy's friends walked in, greeting Mr Brunner, who politely greeted them back, a twinkle in his eye. The group consisted of Jason, Thalia's brother, Piper Mclean, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Reyna Ramirez Arellano, Leo Valdez, Selina Beauregard, Charles Beckendorf, Grover Underwood and Nico DiAngelo. Wow that kid has a lot of friends. They all took seats and the classroom suddenly seemed a lot smaller and a lot more full. A dull buzz began as people caught up with each other until finally Mr Brunner cleared his throat. Unexpectedly, Jason and his friends were the first to fall silent. The rest of the class exchanged surprised looks as Mr Brunner's eyes twinkled again. "So class, another year has come upon us and I still find myself in the company of certain students, no matter how hard I try to get rid of them." He paused and smiled as Jason exchanged smirks with Percy, I was clearly right that they had been in his class before. "Now, for a majority of the first half of the year we will be studying the Ancient civilisations, can anybody suggest which these might be?" He trailed off as Percy and Jason raised their hands, another first for many in the class. "Yes boys," Mr Brunner asked, glancing at their identical grins.

"The Ancient Greeks," Percy said.

"And the Roman Empire." Jason supplied, to general astonishment of the student body. The two high-fived as Mr Brunner nodded, smiling at the pair of them. "Yes, quite right. Arguably the two biggest civilisations in history, there is still debate on which was greater-" He broke off as Percy boldly said

"What debate, it was obviously the Greeks."

"Dude, you're messed in the head, it's totally the Romans!" Jason put in just as confidently. Mr Brunner just sighed as the boys grinned again.

"Boys, you have only been here a total of five minutes, can you at least pretend that I'm a normal teacher for a while?" He said exasperatedly.

"Sure thing Mr Brunner." The boys chorused, still grinning from ear to ear.

Mr Brunner sighed, "Call me Chiron, that goes for all of you, this Sir and Mr Brunner business tires me and makes me feel old."

"Yes Chiron." The pair continued, earning a small smile. Everybody else sat shocked, no one ever did this to a teacher. Chiron looked around and took in our expressions. "It's ok kids, I'm used to it, I'm friends with their parents and I'm not really one for all of these rules. Just treat me with a bit of respect, do as I ask and we shall get along just fine." He told the gobsmacked class. At once the tension in the room eased up and Percy and Jason laughed. Mr Brunner, sorry, Chiron didn't give us any books, which I found strange, but proceeded to tell us more about the upcoming work. "This unit of work," He began "is spaced out, which gives us a lot of time to fully explore both civilisations, meaning that we also get a lot more fun in our lessons." Everyone perked up, no one liked constantly working from textbooks. Chiron knew how to teach, that was for sure, he had the class's full attention and had even made the course sound bearable, if not enjoyable. "So we will be doing projects, learning much about the lifestyles and mythology-" He broke off to look at the boys, they clearly knew more than they let on as both looked excited. "I may decide to educate you in some basic Ancient Greek and Latin, and of course, there will be re-enactment days and... Fieldtrips." He uttered the magic words. There were mixed reactions. A chorus of "Yes!"s and a lot of excited chatter while some people looked dismayed, as though expecting a lot of boring museum trips. I couldn't wait, and I began to wonder where Chiron might take us. Thalia turned around and looked at me, her eyebrows raised, her expression teasing as if she knew exactly what I was thinking. Then again, she probably did. I stuck my tongue out at her and glanced at my friends who were mirroring her expression. They received the same treatment and laughed. This was going to be interesting...

We left Mr Brunner's room in an excited buzz and headed over to Spanish together. It would seem that Percy's friends shared our first and last two lessons of the day. We would all be seeing a lot more of each other.

I arrived at Spanish first and was met by the extreme opposite of Chiron. Miss Hinchado was an uptight woman who regarded us all as troublemakers and saw anything that was not done perfectly as a disappointment. "You will find a seating plan on the board." She said as we entered the room. I stifled a groan as she turned away. Unluckily, Percy didn't quite manage to stop his. The end result was her yelling in rapid Spanish at him for five minutes straight while he stood there, unmoving and unimpressed. The rest of us found our seats and to my amusement I was sat with the very boy currently having his face blown off by the teacher's loud, quick yelling. We sat there in silence as Percy slowly edged towards his seat, mouthing "uptight bitch" to his friends, who hid their faces in their hands to stop themselves laughing. He reached his seat and slung himself down next to me, across from Leo Valdez, who smirked and whispered "She did not say some very nice things to you dude."

"How do you know that?" A voice asked from his other side. I leaned over and saw Calypso sat there, staring at him in awe. "I'm Spanish, so I've been able to speak it since I was two." He answered, moving the corner of his mouth as the teacher glared at us all. She began to write her name on the board for us to copy onto the front of our exercise board. As she moved away, revealing Senorita Hinchado on the board, Leo burst out laughing. All eyes shifted to him as the woman looked at him with something between disgust and disapproval. "What is so funny?" She interrogated, stalking between the aisles to come to a stop in front of him. Leo gulped visibly and I could see Reyna hiding her laughter. Why was she laughing? What did they know that we don't? "Nothing Senorita Puf- I mean Senorita Hinchado." He stammered. Her eyes narrowed. "What did you just call me?" She growled in her broken English.

"Ummm, well, it's just your name..." He began.

"What about my name?" She hissed, lowering her face to just inches from his. He scooted backwards.

"Well it means Miss Puffy doesn't it?" Came a strong female voice. There was an audible gasp as everyone turned to Reyna. She was a rule follower, why did she just break them?

Miss Puffy growled like a real tiger. It was frightening.

"¿Qué hay de malo con mi nombre le horribles desgraciados? ¿Le parece divertido a usted? Bueno, tal vez debería informar al principio o mejor aún, tratar de usted a la antigua usanza, un bastón! Te debo vencer tanto este instante para esto!"

She ranted in Spanish (A/N: I am so sorry to any Spanish speakers out there if this is wrong. I used Google translate for this.) We sat there shocked as Leo stood up and looked at Reyna

"Esta vieja vaca no tiene idea de lo que está haciendo ¿verdad? Ella parece pensar que ella nos puede vencer y hacernos daño. El pegado para arriba puta. Me gustaría verla expulsado de la escuela y, a continuación, burlarse de ella a través de las ventanas. Que pasa contigo?"

He gibbered in rapid Spanish. This caught Miss Puffy off guard and she stood there in confusion. Evidently, she could not understand Leo, maybe he was speaking too fast for her to follow. Reyna laughed out loud and spoke back.

"Estoy completamente de acuerdo Leo. También me gustaría verla expulsado de esta escuela. Tal vez en un saco, si eso es posible. Podríamos tirar de ella en el río nd nadie sería más sabio. ¿Vamos a ver el principio?"

Seeing the look on Miss Puffy's face was priceless as the two got up and walked to the door. It was open before she had even moved.

"¡Espera! Recibe de vuelta aquí a la vez! Usted no tiene derecho a salir de este salón de clases!" She screamed at them, storming towards them. They ignored her and walked out, slamming the door in her face. I looked to my right to find Percy in hysterics. The rest of the class were in silent fits of laughter as Miss Puffy stood there, heaving for breath and looking as if she were about to explode. I turned to look behind me and saw Nico DiAngelo and a guy called Will Solace filming the whole thing on Nico's phone. Will had tears running down his face and Nico had trouble keeping the camera still.

It took a member of the NYPD to remove Senorita Hinchado from the school. Reyna and Leo accompanied him to the classroom and when she had left there was a mighty cheer. Many people were shaking their hands and clapping them on the back. Leo's friends even lifted him up and paraded around the classroom. Even Calypso hugged him. Both went red in the face and jeers came from all sides. We did nothing until the bell went for third period and then we gathered our things and headed for the science labs.

**Authors Notes**

Hey guys, thanks so much for reading! I know this chapter is quite long, let me know if you want more this length or if you want them shorter. I am trying to make it up to you in advance because after next week's update I will be on holiday and so won't be able to update. Any tips are always appreciated, thanks again.

Scott


	5. Chapter 5

Hola! Just to let you guys know, I'm going on holiday on Friday so there will be no update next week, sorry! Anyway, here comes Chapter 5

Kkk: I know that Reyna and Leo aren't supposed to be Spanish, but my fanfic, my rules dude.

Teacuppup: Thanks so much! I try to keep it funny but still have some good content, glad you are enjoying it!

By the way, did anyone understand the Spanish I put in the last paragraph? Should I put in a translation if I include another language?

**Chapter 5**

Percy's POV

I couldn't believe what Leo and Reyna had just done! The sass was amazing! I can honestly say I'm proud of the pair of them right now, also I'm crying with laughter, but the pride is way stronger. We laughed all the way to Science about it and then immediately sobered up seeing the teacher stood there. Mrs Evans. I shuddered. I despise that woman, most of us do. We had her in our first year and she put us all on detention for, wait for it, doing our test TOO WELL. We all aced it, I'm still quite proud of it actually, but she decided that we were trouble makers and that we had all cheated. So we sat in detention after school. Mom was pretty amused about the whole thing once she was satisfied that I hadn't cheated. Honestly, she's a human lie detector, I can never put one over on her, she even knows when I take some cookie mixture when she isn't looking. Anyway, once Mrs Evans saw it was us, her eyes narrowed to slits and her face contorted in disgust. It was pretty scary, she was practically Medusa. I mean, it was almost justified seeing as we pulled a prank on her on our last day.

You see, we were under the impression that she would be leaving permanently and so we wanted to give her a going away present. It turns out that she was leaving for the holidays. Not good. A bucket of glue, some feathers and ice cold water later, we were screwed. But it got worse. We weren't amateurs, we didn't stop with the old 'bucket above the teachers door' trick. We went all out. There was cement in her shoes, tar on the inside of her coat sleeves. Heck, we even got Leo and Beck to rig up a surround sound system and we played funny noises the entire lesson. That was the first time I failed Science. It wasn't the last, but it was the worst.

Mrs Evans didn't even speak to us, so of course, we cracked up earning a death glare. We went to our old seats, at the side of the classroom, but she soon put a stop to it. All the time she didn't speak but smiled evilly as she forced us to our new seats, about as spaced out from each other as we could get. It was going to be a long year.

I sat staring at the clock as Mrs Evans droned on and on about how biology was "such an interesting subject" and that this year we would be "learning many new things" blah blah blah, etc etc. My thoughts drifted to lunch and what would happen then, just fifty boring minutes away. Inexplicably, I began to think of seeing a certain blonde and, for some reason, that made me smile. "Mr Jackson!" Came a nasally, high pitched voice; Mrs Evans. "Would you care to explain what I have been speaking to you about for the past fifteen minutes?" She hissed, glaring at me.

"Uh, no ma'am." I said, still smiling slightly.

"Well, perhaps you could explain what you are smiling about then?" She demanded. Shit. She had caught me off guard there. My friends stared smugly, but thankfully made nothing of it. I could go two ways here: Sass, or play dumb. I knew which one I was going with.

"I'm terribly sorry Mrs Evans, could you repeat the question? I was too busy reminiscing our first year together, hence my smiling. I do hope you can forgive me as I was ever so fond of your lessons." I said, laying on the sarcasm extra thick.

She actually growled at me. "Detention Mr Jackson! And only third period on your first day! Disappointing." She said, smiling sickeningly. I knew I was in for real treat after school.

The bell mercifully sounded, ending the torture. We groaned thankfully, seizing our equipment and stuffing it into our bags. We were out of the door faster than you could say "lunch". We made a beeline for our favourite hang out, near the big tree where we had shade and space. It was a nice day, not too windy but a refreshing breeze blew across the open field at the back. I had grabbed my guitar from the music storage and sat messing with the strings a bit, on the edge of the group. We were looking out for Thals and the girls, they seemed like a nice bunch and we were eager to make some new friends. Beck and Selina were sat together, his arm around her shoulders. "Awww, look at the lovebirds," Leo mocked, "Maybe Perce should play you a luuuurve song cuz." We all laughed at how red both of their faces were. Jason and Piper were sat together too, but we didn't make fun of them because Jason hadn't been such a klutz like Beck, or Frank for that matter. Both of them were way too scared to ask the girls they liked out, so we stepped in. Hazel and Frank were pretty easy, we just got Selina and Piper to do it. Those two are like love experts or something, and Frank and Hazel, or 'Frazel' as Selina calls them, were together within a week. Beck and Selina herself were harder to get together. It took a very demanding game of truth or dare to even begin making progress. Strangely, after a brief period of seven minutes in heaven, the two were a lot easier to get together. I wonder why...

"Seriously Perce, play us something," Leo insisted.

"Nah, I don't think that's a good idea guys, I'm not very good-"

"Bull dude! You were great at the house!" Leo continued, to a mix of reactions. I sat there staring at him while the guys all hid their heads in their hands and winced. The girls all looked confused.

"Wait Percy can play AND sing? How come you never told us?" They complained.

"What do you mean 'at the house' dude?" I said, ignoring the girls for a minute. "I never played or sang in front of you!"

Leo shifted, looking guilty. "I know dude, but we came back from the shopping trip earlier than you thought, and we heard singing coming from your room and so we sorta maybe kinda eavesdropped and watched you play and sing. Don't be mad bro, you're really good!" He added, seeing my expression.

I sighed, I should have known it would have come out at some point anyway. They knew I played a little, hence why I was sat with my guitar in front of them, but they didn't know I could play well, or sing. "I'm not mad dude, why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

"We didn't want you to get mad at us." Supplied Frank. The guys had all sat up now that I hadn't exploded at Leo.

"Fair enough dude." I said, shrugging it off. I went back to tweaking the strings a bit, plucking a few notes. I looked up again to see Thalia and her friends coming over. We waved and gestured for them to sit with us. The girls started up a conversation and I went back to my guitar. Subconsciously, I began to play the opening to Year 3000, the acoustic cover by The Vamps. The chatter stopped and I realised they were staring at me. I blushed and Thals laughed, relieving the tension. "Geez Percy, when did you learn to play like that?" Piper asked, making me blush a bit more.

"Come on dude, play it!" Leo begged "We won't laugh... too much!" Piper slapped him upside the head. "Ok, at all!" I shook my head, I wasn't ready to play in front of people just yet. Luckily Hazel got the message.

"Leave him be guys!" she insisted, "He'll play for us when he's ready." Unluckily, no one else did. They begged and pleaded, even Thalia and her friends. I finally gave in.

"All right, all right, just shut up!" I yelled, they were giving me a headache. "One song though ok?" They nodded eagerly and I strummed the first chords of Year 3000.

"One day when I came home at lunch time I heard a funny noise

Went out to the backyard to find out if it was one of those rowdy boys

Stood there was my neighbour called Peter

and a Flux Capacitor

He told me he built a time machine like the one in a film I've seen

Yeah-eaah... He said

I've been to the year 3000

Not much has changed but they lived underwater

and your great great great granddaughter

Is pretty fine

Is pretty fine

He took me to the future in the flux thing and I saw everything

Boybands and another one and another one and another one

Triple breasted females swim around town totally naked!

We drove around in a time machine like the one in a film I've seen

Yeah-eaah... He said

I've been to the year 3000

Not much has changed but they lived underwater

And your great great great granddaughter

Is pretty fine

Is pretty fine

I took a trip to the year 3000

This song had gone multi-platinum

Everybody brought our seventh album

It had outsold Micheal Jackson

I took a trip to the year 3000

This song had gone multi-platinum

Everybody brought our seventh album, seventh album, seventh album

He told me he built a time machine like the one in a film ive seen

Yeah-eaah... He said

I've been to the year 3000

Not much has changed but they lived under water

And your great great great grandaughter

Is pretty fine

She's pretty fine

I've been to the year 3000

Not much has changed but they lived under water

And your great great great grandaughter

Is pretty fine

Is pretty fine

He said..

I've been to the year 3000

Not much has changed but they lived under water

And your great great great grand daughter

She's pretty fine

Is pretty fine."

I finished the song and blushed a little, realising what I'd just done. They all clapped and Leo whistled. I blushed even more. It's not like I'm a bad singer, I'm actually pretty good, but I'm fairly self conscious about my singing. I know it's stupid, I play for every sports team going, have represented the school countless times and I'm one of the most popular kids here, but I don't like to sing in front of people. That's one of the things that stops me from going for the school play/musical.

"Wow Percy, that was awesome!" smiled Selina, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Thanks guys, I try." I said, grinning slightly, then quickly changing the subject I asked. "So Thalia, are you going to introduce me to your friends?"

Annabeth's POV

"So Thalia, are you going to introduce me to your friends?" Percy asked, evidently evading the subject of his musical talent. Wait, what? Introduce us? Oh no. No, no, no. Thalia, don't you dare, don't even-

"Yeah sure!" What a jerk. She gestured to each of us in turn as she said "Percy, meet Juniper, Calypso and, do I even need to introduce the lovely Annabeth?" She turned and winked at me, only to be met with possibly the most terrifying death glare I have ever given. I could hear the others laughing, gods this was embarrassing.

"Ah yes, Annabeth," Percy laughed, he had a cute laugh. Annabeth! Focus! Honestly woman! "Walked out in front of anymore bikes recently?" he asked.

"Okay, firstly, I did not walk out in front of your bike. Secondly, you should really learn to watch where you're driving." I stated stubbornly, crossing my arms over my chest. Thalia took one look at my expression and cracked up. One thing you should know about Thalia's laugh: it's contagious. It's not one of those cute, tinkling laughs most teenage girls have, it's more like...how do I put this lightly?...a drunk hyena on crack. Yep that's as lightly as I can put it. Pretty soon, everyone was falling about giggling; most of the guys were leaning on one another, Juniper and Calypso were clutching their sides and rolling about on the grass, Percy was slumped forward over his guitar struggling to regain his composure and my head was thrown back, hair steaming my back as laughter sailed from my lips.

"Oh my gods Thals!" Percy wheezed, wiping a few tears from his eyes, "How in hell was that funny?" Thalia, who had calmed down enough so that her laugher sounded less like a hyena and more like a chattering monkey, sat up, pushing Juniper over in the process.

"It was just...Annabeth's face..." she said, breathlessly.

"What's that about my face Thalia Grace?" I joked, smirking as i watched her mentally scramble around for a sufficient reason. I chuckled and shook my head, honestly, that girl sometimes, what's the worst I was going to do? "Calm down Thals, I'm not going to kill you." She visibly relaxed, perfect, she's let her guard down. "Yet." I added, glaring menacingly, satisfied as she gulped.

"Wow Annabeth, not only do you have award worthy pedestrian skills, you also have the ability to set the fearless Thalia Grace trembling in fear." Came Percy's voice, i detected a hint of actual surprise along with the obvious amusement and sarcasm, "Now I've really seen it all." I felt a blush start to creep up my neck. Uh oh, not good. I dipped my head down, allowing my hair to fall in front of my face. Thankfully, Juniper noticed my embarrassment and quickly started a new conversation. Mercifully, everyone quickly became engrossed discussing the "complete and total slaughter of Miss Puffy" (Leo's words, not mine) in Spanish, and all attention was focussed on anything but me. Well, nearly all attention. I saw someone staring at me out of the corner of my eye and turned, only to be met with a pair of intense, sea-green eyes boring into me. I froze and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear awkwardly. Percy raised an eyebrow in question but quickly sensed my discomfort and went back to tuning his guitar.

I mentally face palmed. Why was this so awkward? I'm not usually this uncomfortable, but then again, I'm not usually with anyone other than the girls. And I'm especially not usually in the company of extremely hot, talented, intellectual, motorbike riding Percy Jackson. Wait, what?! Annabeth Chase! Oh my gods, what is happening to me?

**Author's Notes**

So there it is, thank for reading guys! I might try and post Chapter 6 before I leave on holiday. See you next time!

Scott


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, I'm back from my holiday and here with Chapter 6!**

**Oracle987: I already answered your review, but thank you so much again! **

** .kawaii: Thank you! I didn't plan it really, but it kinda works doesn't it? Weird.**

**Fri0003: Thank you so much! Your review made my day! I'm glad you enjoy it, don't worry there is plenty more to come.**

**Also a huge than you to everyone that has followed/favourited the story, it means a lot that you all enjoy it!**

**That's the reviews covered, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It's one of my favourite sections that I have ever written, PJO or not. See ya!**

**Chapter 6**

Annabeth's POV

The bell went, signalling the end of, in my opinion, an eventful lunch. I was a little sad to be leaving the guys because, honestly, I had fun. It felt like we had known each other for years already and I was actually beginning to feel like I hadn't been that friendless nerd in class for the past few years. Urgh! I'm getting sentimental and feely now. We rushed to fourth period, all four of us excited and chatting about lunch. We turned and waved at the guys, who waved back enthusiastically, before disappearing into IT class. IT wasn't really a bad subject, most kids messed around while the ones that wanted to do the work moved on to more complex things, computer programming and such. Thals, Juniper and Calypso were three of the many kids that messed around. Do I even need to tell you that I wasn't? I was looking forward to class this year, as last year the teacher, Mr Griffiths, had hinted that I could design a full computer programme of my choice! I had him again this year. He smiled at me and took role call. After we had all confirmed if we were here or not, Mr Griffiths made a beeline for me.

"Annie!" He said, and I had to put a lot of effort into not rolling my eyes. He was one of the only people in the world who could call me that. His strong Welsh accent made it sound endearing, and not taunting. "So how are we today?" He asked.

"I'm good thank you sir. How are you?" I answered, with a distinct politeness.

"Good, good." He said, almost dismissing the question. "Now, are you ready to begin your new project?"

"I thought you'd never ask sir." I replied with obvious enthusiasm. I knew exactly what I was going to do my programme on. And, if I finished that early, I could also do my secondary idea. I wouldn't put any extra time into it though, the lessons, twice a week, were plenty of time for me. Mr Griffiths and I made idle chit chat before he told me the location of the files I would need for the task ahead. I opened up my documents and added a new folder to the impeccably neat profile. 'New project- Architecture' I called it. Yes, I'm way into architecture. My mom, my birth mom that is, was an architect, and I wanted to build something permanent, more permanent than her and my dad's marriage anyway. I became distracted though, as the girls turned to me, a strange expression on their faces. It took me a moment to place it, it was sort of teasing, but excited.

"So, anything you want to tell us Annabeth?" Juniper queried. I registered the use of my real name and I instantly felt uneasy. This wasn't going to be good.

"No, why?" I replied nonchalantly, shrugging.

"Oh, we thought that something was happening between you and Percy?" Calypso teased.

"Wait what? No! Why would you think that?" I said frantically, a little too frantically as it turned out, as they broke about giggling.

"Denial!" Calypso sang as Juniper giggled again.

"Oh come on Chase! Give us some credit, there is no way you could keep a crush from us," Thalia said, "Even if it is on my cousin!" She added a bit distastefully, as if she couldn't quite believe what she was saying.

"Yeah, you two just couldn't keep your eyes off of each other at lunch, could you?" Juniper laughed. I could feel a blush creeping up my neck.

"Ok, ok, Thalia I think your cousin Percy is hot. Happy now?" I spat out, although we all knew I wasn't being mean, or rude.

"Nuh-uh, loads of girls think Percy is hot." Thalia said, now that was an understatement. Girls in other schools thought Percy was hot, our school practically worshipped him as a god. "There is something more than that here, I can tell."

I shook my head, "Sorry to disappoint you guys, but there isn't any more." I tried to be as convincing as possible. It worked, to some extent, at least they fell silent. "I'm going to start on my work now, guys." I said, but there was no reply. I glanced over at them to see their heads together with frantic whispering. So much for convinced. I began to work on my architecture programme and at once my spirits soared, this was actually pretty cool, and surprisingly easy to do.

Percy's POV

Oh man! Lunch was great! Thals and the girls were actually pretty cool and I even worked up the courage to sing in front of my friends. At first I thought they were going to make fun of me but ,luckily, I have the best friends a guy could ask for and they were really supportive about it. We parted ways at lunch though. Thalia, Calypso, Juniper and Annabeth, oh gods that girl was cute, wait what?! Where did that come from?! Anyway, they went to IT whilst our girls, minus Hazel, who was a year younger; Piper, Reyna and Selina went to Home Ec, much to Reyna's dismay. She couldn't stand anything deemed 'womanly'. The guys, obviously minus Connor, who had been sent home, and Travis, who was at home with his broken leg although I heard he'll be back soon, set off for Geography. We hated the subject. I would honestly rather have traded places with Reyna. That's how bad Geography was.

We spent most of the walk complaining about how boring the lessons would be this year, especially with Mr Martin teaching us. We had him in Freshman year and he was unbearable. He wasn't mean or anything, but he droned on and on and we learned nothing! Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind that, Geography was useless for me anyway, after we had learned the world map and all of the states I was set for life. I mean, what normal kid wants to go on a holiday and then study rainfall patterns? Exactly. But here we were, setting foot in Mr Martins room again. And the seating plan was on the board, displayed by the overhead projector. We stifled groans and headed to the board to check our seats. Score! All of us were next to at least one person from the group! Me and Beck shuffled to our seats in the far right corner of the classroom while Jason and Leo took the bottom left, Frank and Nico were sat in the top left, meaning we were all in the only corners available, Mr Martins desk occupied the bottom right. We grinned manically at each other, determined to cause chaos, lower case 'c' by the way. Mr Martin always walked around the classroom, turning his back on a majority of it for at least five minutes at a time while he lectured about something unimportant. Normally, kids would have complained at being so far from their friends, but not us, not here. Later on in Freshman year, when we were much bolder, we devised a simple but effective game. 'Stand up, sit down', not very creative, I know, was an instant hit. Because Mr Martin walked around so much, whoever he had his back to had to stand up and pull funny faces or do a stupid dance or something. The first to get caught, either laughing or 'performing', lost and the game usually ended before we got in too much trouble. Naturally, the whole class ended up in hysterics, but Mr Martin never quite got what we were doing, so entire lessons were spent playing, and often people emerged from the room with tears rolling down their faces.

Some members of the class, the ones who had been with us before, glanced at us, their eyes gleaming. Others looked around in confusion while we waved them all off, mouthing 'Not yet'. They nodded, quickly whispering amongst each other, no doubt telling their friends about what was about to unfold.

"Good afternoon everybody." Said Mr Martin, entering the room. "I see you have all found your seats." Nobody answered and he stood there awkwardly for a minute. Then he remembered he was a teacher and went to take attendance. We kept straight faces all the way through, each of us planning out our actions and gestures, barely glancing around. Finally, he moved on to the lecture we had all been waiting. How Junior year is "very important" and so on. It would typically last about ten minutes for any normal teacher, but for Mr Martin it would probably take half an hour. He paced the classroom and stopped facing the right side. Dam! I really wanted to go first but now he was looking straight at us. I saw Leo gulp a breath, and then rise out of his seat. Immediately he launched into a sort of silent jig, making as little noise as possible while students all around were trying not to laugh. I usually win this, as I can 1) keep a really good poker face, unlike so many of my friends. And 2) I looked ridiculous when I get up on my turn. It's all for laughs though, and I do it with friends so I don't really mind. Leo began to pull faces, keeping up the jig, and Beck struggled to keep a straight face, finally letting out a burst of laughter, rapidly turning it into a cough as Mr Martin's beady eyes stared him down.

"Sorry sir," Beckendorf gasped "I got something in my throat." His eyes were watering and I'm sure I heard someone say something really stupid like "Yeah, Selina's dick" or something, so I glanced around menacingly, looking for the culprit. They got away with it though, but really? Selina's dick? What a stupid thing to say, Selina was one of the hottest girls in school, the dude saying it probably fancied her! I shook my head and then Leo was joined by Jason, which promptly turned the solo jig into a slow dance between the pair. Many students were shaking silently and there were multiple 'coughs' from around the room, boys and girls alike. Leo and Jason sat down to silent applause, basically everyone who wasn't in Mr Martin's view miming clapping, and then Frank stood up. Nico sat next to Frank's recently vacated chair looking amused but in no rush to join in. To be fair to Nico, he's a reserved person. Frank then did the most unexpected thing for a guy like him. He climbed on the table on his hands and knees and acted like a dog. It was a really good impression, he had all the movements and mannerisms nailed, but it was so wrong. Frank, the six foot footballer, with muscles like Hulk Hogan, was climbing around a table acting like a dog. I shuddered despite myself, it was plain weird. Hilarious, but weird. Mr Martin made to turn round and Frank threw himself off of the table and slid back into his seat, acting like he hadn't just been the world's most muscular dog. That was the last straw for some people, who slumped on their tables, laughing into their arms. Amazingly, none of us had broken yet. But it was only a matter of time. Mr Martin finally turned his back on our side and I wasted no time. I stood up and quickly went to a random girl. I think her name was Bethany? She was quite pretty, with blonde hair that reminded me of Annabeth, NO PERCY! Anyway, I didn't know her that well but her eyes widened when she saw me. I pulled her up and sat in her seat, gesturing for her to sit in my lap. I don't know which people found funnier, my ridiculous actions or her face. It was a picture, she looked like her birthday had come early but she couldn't believe what was happening. She sat down hesitantly, gingerly, and I pulled her close. She relaxed a bit and she sat across me, her knees facing away from the table, her head leaning on my shoulder.

"Sorry for any awkwardness," I whispered "It's part of the game."

She nodded eagerly, "No it's fine, I'm glad I could be a part of it." She whispered back, and then her eyes widened. I chuckled.

"Anyway, I have a boyfriend, but wow I can't believe I'm in this situation right now." Her cheeks flushed as she realised what she had just said. I smiled.

"Don't worry, I understand," I said, giving her a wink and a lopsided smile "I promise not to do anything that would make you two break up or argue ok?" She nodded, evidently pleased and then she slid off my lap.

"Come on, I need my seat back and you don't want to get caught." She added with a wink of her own. I like this girl. Not in a romantic way, but as a friend, she's pretty cool. I got up and decided to give my friends another laugh, so I moonwalked back to my seat, but first I stole Mr Martins keys and put them on top of the projector. With luck, he wouldn't realise until after the lesson. I sat down and Beck took his cue. He got up and full on disco danced, old school. There were all of the classic moves in there and it was the funniest thing I have ever seen. This was enough for Jason to crack up. The game was over as Mr Martin moved over to Jason.

"Is something wrong, Mr Grace?" He asked in polite anger. Jason took a few breaths before answering calmly "No sir, I just remembered that I still have Jackson's keys and he hasn't realised yet." This brought a laugh from the class as we had all seen where Mr Martin's were and then I realised that the slimy bugger actually did have my keys and glared at him. Props to Jason though, for that legit excuse. The class settled down and Jason tossed me my bike keys back. I didn't even realise they were gone, that actually worried me, but I shook it off and laughed. Mr Martin carried on with his lecture and then came the bell. We truly were saved.

We hurried out of the classroom and headed off to Music. A double period with all of my old friends and my new ones, on top of the fact that music was one of the things at school that I really enjoyed and I got along great with the teacher? Suddenly I didn't mind Mondays anymore... I quickly headed over to music with the guys, feeling pretty good.

We ended up stood outside the classroom, if you could call it a classroom because it was practically a music studio, with everybody else. Now we play the waiting game. Apollo is always late. Never fails to amaze me really, you could drop him off directly in front of where he needed to be fifteen minutes early and he'd still find a way to be late. I looked at the group and noticed that we weren't actually all here. There was a certain blonde haired girl missing.

"Hey Thals, where's Annabeth? I thought she was in this class?" I asked my cousin. But before she could reply, Leo butted in.

"Awww, already falling in love on the first day?" He teased.

"Shut it Valdez." I said jokingly. Of course I didn't love Annabeth. We were just... Acquaintances. Not even friends right now. I doubt we would be any more than friends. But she is cute, in a smart, withdrawn kinda way. She looks like the type of girl that spends more time reading than working on her outfit and make up. Heck, she didn't even wear make up, and her clothes weren't exactly designer. Still, she is cute, in that cute-neighbour-that-you-would-want-to-be-friends-with sort of thing. The more I thought about it, the cuter she seemed, the more I wanted to get to know her.

"Hellooooo? Percy? You've been staring into space for like five minutes dude. Thalia was talking to you."

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Thalia "Sorry cuz, go on." I motioned while concealing a smile. And it had nothing to do with the situation.

Thalia spoke up "Well, we came out of IT and she said she needed to use the bathroom so I assume she's still... Oh no." Thalia was staring at the other two girls of their group: Juniper and Calypso, and all were looking horrified.

"What's up? What's wrong guys?" Selina asked, mirroring everyone's confused expressions.

"Umm, well the thing is, Annabeth has social anxiety and she is kinda prone to panic attacks every now and again..." Juniper didn't need to say anymore.

"Where did she leave you guys? Which building?" Jason asked.

"I think it was A-block." Calypso replied.

"We'll start there then." Beck said. This time they looked at us in confusion.

"What?" They said in unison.

"We aren't just gonna sit by and wait for you guys to find her, she's our friend too now." Piper said, her expression serious. We nodded in ascent and so began the 'Annabeth hunt'. Normally I would never venture into the girls bathrooms, but this was no laughing matter. A-block was huge. It housed the Maths department which alone consisted of about fifteen rooms, the IT department had six rooms, the Art department with four studios and one actual classroom and two assembly halls, the cafeteria and the infirmary. The large amount of classrooms made for a big building with lots of people in. And lots of people meant lots of bathrooms. I swiftly covered the length of A-block, finding the lavatories closest to the IT department, and went in. Immediately I heard sounds. Loud and quick breathing, along with something else. Laughter. I cautiously turned the corner and what I saw sickened me. Annabeth, sat against the wall, her eyes wide, clearly hyperventilating, and Drew Tanaka. The classic barbie doll of the school. She was laughing at Annabeth, calling her a freak, a friendless loser. Some stronger insults that I wish no to repeat. I saw red. Neither saw me coming until it was too late. I grabbed Drew by the waist and roughly dragged her away.

"Oh Percy, honey, I knew you would come around." She flirted, mistaking my intentions. "You are right, we should go somewhere private without this loser." She glared at Annabeth. I picked her up and actually tossed her out of the bathroom. She didn't get hurt, which was a relief, but she did get a rude awakening from her fantasy. I slammed the door in her face, determined to see if Annabeth was ok without Drew's interruptions. I glanced at the shy girl, who was still hyperventilating. I fully noticed her beautiful grey eyes, her blonde hair, her face. Even when she was having an attack she was cute, beyond cute. How stupid do I sound! Fantasising over a girl while she suffers in front of me! Stop being shallow Percy! She's hurting! Suddenly I was overcome with a strong urge to help her, protect her, no matter what. I did the only thing that felt natural. I walked over to her, knelt down beside her, and held her against me, comforting her. She relaxed, so I kept her there. "Why?" She whispered. I didn't answer. I just kissed her.

**Author's Notes**

So, whaddya think of that? Was it good? I'm fanboying so hard over that kiss! Let me know any suggestions for lessons and teachers that I have not already done. Please favourite and review, the support means a lot! I love you guys long time! I know this is early, but I like to treat you guys, I'll try and get another chapter up by Wednesday as usual, but don't hate me if I don't! peace out!

Scott


	7. Chapter 7

Hi guys! I'm so, so, so, so sorry for not posting in ages, I had this sort of motivation block where every time I sat down to write I got distracted too easily and I couldn't actually type more than a few lines at a time. Anyway, on to the reviews...

DownElliot: Thanks! I'm trying to write longer chapters and thanks for letting me know you enjoy them. I will certainly be updating more now that I'm back.

Johanne er best: Thanks you so much! Stand up sit down is a great invention, that's for sure! You all seem to love it! I'm glad that you're enjoying the story!

ThatDamAnnabeth: You can certainly put the game into your story! I would be honoured if you did! I liked the way Frank's talents were brought in too, I'm really happy that you like the story so far!

Sisi Fangirl: Sorry for the long wait! I promise I'll keep writing, don't worry! Glad to know you're enjoying it!

Thanks for the reviews guys, it's great to know your opinions on the story and what made you laugh or what you found cool. I love reading your comments, it really makes me happy when I open my email and read these. Keep reviewing!

Now, the moment you have all been waiting for... Stand up sit down, IS REAL! Yes! We used to play it in Geography, although the actions weren't as out there as stealing someone's chair and having them sit on your lap, but oh well. The teacher is real too, this is where I get the inspiration for the lessons, most of the teachers, apart from Miss Puffy, are at my school. Not all of the pranks and such are real though, I'm in my GCSE's now (The exams in England, for those of you that don't know) so we've stopped doing the more outrageous of things now. Well, here comes Chapter 7!

**Chapter 7**

Annabeth's POV

I ducked out of Thalia's arms after IT. We were heading to Music together, a double period too, but my heart wasn't in it. Neither was my head. It was swirling around, my thoughts didn't make sense. I began to feel dizzy, compressed. Like a fish in a small tank, constantly being looked at, judged. Oh gods. It was happening again. An attack. I had always had these, but I had thought that this year, for once, my troubles would be over. Things were looking bad. Really bad. I needed to get away, immediately. I hurriedly made an excuse to go to the bathroom. I chose the one nearest to us. Not the most secluded but by far the easiest and safest bet. Luckily for me, it was empty. Unluckily for me, I was having a full on panic attack. I slumped down the wall, breathing heavily. I tried to use the techniques I had been taught when I was little, but I lost focus and none of them worked. I felt a wave of emotion flow over me. Frustration that I was rendered weak and helpless, fear at the thought of other people noticing me and laughing at me. Alone, even though I hadn't asked anyone to help me or to comfort me, I felt alienated. All of my worst fears, my deepest secrets, my innermost thoughts. They whirled around me, hurting me in ways that wouldn't leave marks. At least, not visible ones. I vaguely heard the door swing open, but I couldn't rise from my stupor like state. It was Drew. The Barbie doll from hell. The meanest of the popular girls. She looked in the mirror, as if to check her make up, but then glanced to her right. She saw me. I froze, hyperventilating. It was terrifying. She stared down at me and, laughed? I felt a burst of confusion but then realised it was a harsh laugh, aimed at me.

"Well, well, if it isn't the nerd!" She said. "What's the matter blondie? Something wrong? I knew you were a freak, you always were!" She taunted. She went on and on, prolonging my pain. How can people be so mean? I sat there, unmoving, caught in a civil war between my brain cells. I was hurting inside, and everything Drew said confirmed my fears and hurt even more. People hated me, they didn't want to know me.

"I bet Percy and his friends are only using you to get good grades. I bet they're gonna ask you to do their papers and homework's and at the end of it all, they'll treat you like what you are. Dirt. You're their pet project. Their little personal nerd." She smiled cruelly. "That's all you are. A nobody. A nothing. A smart little nerd with no friends and no life." She stopped, seeming satisfied, but my mind was still racing, trying to force me to accept her words as the truth. The door to the bathroom opened. It was a boy. Not just any boy. Percy. He took in the situation and snaked an arm around Drew's waist, pulling her away. I broke inside. Drew was right, I was a nobody. Wait, no, she wasn't. Percy's face betrayed him. His eyes were fire, his features distorted in fury. Drew didn't notice.

"Oh Percy, honey, I knew you would come around." Drew said, allowing Percy to pull her close. "You are right, we should go somewhere private without this loser." Percy actually picked her up and carried her to the door. My heart sank, maybe he was just going to leave with her after all. And then he threw her bodily from the room. I would have laughed and cheered had I not been hyperventilating and unable to move. And then he shut the door and came over. He pulled me close and held me there. I suddenly felt right, like this was where I was supposed to be, in his arms. I began to calm down, to relax a bit. I let my head fall onto his shoulder and he didn't even flinch. He just held me and whispered in my ear.

"Why?" I asked him. I got no response and looked up only to find a pair of mesmerising sea green eyes just inches from mine. And then he kissed me. I heard fireworks somewhere, but they seemed insignificant to the spark I just felt. And it was a spark. I felt it, and I think he did too. And then he was gone, all too soon. I was lifted up by strong, muscular arms and found myself with my face against Percy's chest. I glanced up at him and saw a sheepish, lopsided grin on his face. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Thank you." I whispered. Again, I got no reply, but this time he carried me to the door, set me down, and brushed me down. He swept all of the dust off of me and even grabbed some paper towels, dabbing at my eyes and face to get rid of tears I hadn't realised were there. When he was done I looked in the mirror and saw myself again. But this time I had a bigger smile than I've ever seen on my face. I realised that the mask I have hidden from the world with was gone. Percy had wiped away more than just tears. He had wiped away my fears.

"Ready to go Annabeth?" He said, getting my name right. I was surprised, I thought he would use 'Anna', 'Beth' or 'Annie' or something to spike my temper and get me back to my old ways. That's how I would have done it. And then it hit me, Percy isn't me. He isn't anywhere near as smart as me, no offense to the guy or anything. But he dealt with the situation better than I could have ever done. Sometimes being smart wasn't always the answer.

"Yeah," I answered with more confidence than I could remember having. "Let's go." He smiled, as if realising he had done a good job.

"Right this way, my lady." He joked, offering his arm. I took it replying,

"Thank you, kind sir." He laughed, which brought a curious glance from me. I raised my eyebrows at him, gesturing for him to explain.

"I'm glad I could see you as you. No mask, no distractions. Just you being you. I like it." He explained, and then proceeded to turn the colour of Rachel Elizabeth Dare's hair, bright red. I was shocked at the compliment and a little flattered and flustered when he said that, so I didn't notice how he quickly smiled at me. Nor did I see the twinkle in his eye. And I definitely didn't notice how hot he looked in the t-shirt that hugged his body fairly well. And I most certainly did not notice how his arm never unlinked from mine. And there was no way in Hades that Annabeth Chase was thinking how much she enjoyed spending time with Percy Jackson and how good he made her feel.

Of course, the moment was ruined when all of my friends rounded the corner and saw us together. Percy didn't unlink his arm like I expected him to as Thalia, Juniper, Calypso, Grover, Piper, Leo, Jason, Hazel, Frank, Reyna, Selina and Beckendorf came pounding down the hallway to meet us. They were louder than a herd of elephants in the Lincoln Tunnel. Long story, don't ask.

"Annabeth!" Thalia called. "Where the hell were you?!"

"What happened?!" Asked Juniper.

"Are you alright?!" That was Calypso.

I opened my mouth to reply when all of a sudden Leo broke in.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up. Why are you two linking arms and walking down the corridor like you're having the time of your lives?" He narrowed his eyes at us, trying to look serious. He couldn't. He cracked up laughing and so did all the other guys. My friends looked at Piper for an explanation. She clearly didn't have a clue either. Neither did the other girls.

"What's so funny?!" I demanded, not sure if they were insulting me or not. They slowly came to a stop, leaning on each other. Then Jason stepped forward as if he was testifying in court or something, avoiding Percy's eyes and looking a little nervous.

"Well the thing is..." He broke off under a glare from Percy. He clearly knew what the guys were thinking.

"Oh for Zeus' sake!" Beckendorf said. "Stop wimping out Grace!" He turned to me, grinning. "We were laughing because this is Perseus Jackson, who has said many a time that high school relationships are stupid and that he won't have one, ever, and he was caught walking arm in arm with a girl. Filthy hypocrite!" Beckendorf laughed, and this set the guys off again. My heart sank as I looked at Percy, who himself looked extremely sheepish. So it turns out there wasn't a spark. I put on a brave face and laughed it off. Nobody needed to know how I felt. It didn't matter. I heard the sound of heels clacking on the floor behind us. Not good. We turned around in dismay to see a teacher I've never seen before walking towards us. We saw her as she saw us. Her mouth opened to start shouting at us and, by some unspoken agreement, we ran. Dodging around corners and hurtling down the pathways and corridors of the school complex. The funny thing was, that all this time Apollo still hadn't turned up.

We slammed the door of the music room shut and at once fell apart laughing. I felt better now but I still couldn't meet Percy's eye. He must have felt just as awkwardly as I did, as he crossed the room and sat in the far corner, loading up a computer and putting his headphones on. Thankfully, the others didn't notice, or care, and I sat between Thalia and Piper as we all loaded up the computers. I had just opened up Garageband when the door opened and the teacher, Apollo, finally strolled in. He was dressed in black skinny jeans, a white and black checked shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and some ray bans. Thalia at once sat up and I smirked, mouthing "She fancies him" to Piper, who understood immediately. A lot of girls liked Apollo, I mean, he was hot. I'll admit, he was hot, but I don't fancy him like Thalia does.

"Hello class!" Apollo said smiling at us. Wow, it was like looking at the sun. I was almost blinded by that smile! "So," Apollo continued, "today, we will be just doing a sort of free lesson." He did air quotations on the word 'free' and most of us perked up. Even Percy had removed his headphones to listen. "What I want you to do is simple. Choose from any of these three options on the board." He gestured to the whiteboard which was currently covered by a pull down projector screen. He pulled the cord and it receded into it's compartment above the board. Everyone looed at the board, taking in and weighing up the options:

-Begin a track on Garageband

-Go into a practise room and work on a song of your choice

-Work on a song/piece in small groups

People started to mutter to each other, asking their friends what they were doing and discussing song choices.

"Settle down guys!" Apollo called "You don't have to make your choice right away, you can have a couple of minutes to decide. Once you have done so, let me know and then start working. I will be picking some to show to the class, so make sure you don't mess around!" I began to panic a bit and I saw Percy go slightly pale across the room. I glanced at Apollo pleadingly, he knows I have issues performing in front of people. He noticed me and nodded as if to say he wouldn't pick me and I relaxed a it. He retired to his chair and opened up his own Garageband piece, fiddling with the keys on the keyboard, selecting the right instrument and playing a few notes as he waited for us. Almost at once Percy got up and headed over. I was fairly close to Apollo's desk so I could hear their conversation.

"Sir, can I use practice room twelve?" Percy asked. I frowned, that was the furthest, most secluded room he could of picked. And then I remembered that I wasn't the only one that liked to perform in front of others. Apollo looked up.

"Sure Percy, the keyboard is set up in there so you can do whatever, just don't trash the room." He said and tossed Percy the key with a card on the keychain reading 'Room 12'. I decided to work on a Garageband piece that I had been tinkering with at the end of last year. It wasn't anything too good, just some backing chords so far. I didn't want to make a fast moving, brand new top charts hit or anything, so the chords were just plain piano for the moment. I messed around with that for a bit, working on a new chord layer before I glanced up to see what everyone else was doing. Leo was working away on Garageband with Beckendorf doing the same beside him. Jason and Piper had gone to Practise Room 1, Frank and Hazel were working on a track together in Practise Room 2. Thalia, Juniper and Calypso were working on a group piece in a corner, a couple of other kids were working on their own things. Then I looked at Nico. He had a bass guitar out and was absent mindedly playing while talking to Will Solace and Grover about something, I couldn't make out what, and Selina and Reyna were singing together in another corner. I wondered how Percy was getting on. I hope he won't have to perform, he could only just do one song in front of us, let alone in front of a whole class!

Percy's POV

I felt so awkward after that whole scene with everybody in the corridor. Gods it was awful! While it is true that I think high school relationships are pointless, I can understand them. Like Selina and Charles, or Jason and Piper, they worked together and they actually loved each other and wanted the relationship. They weren't about having the relationship, they just wanted the person they were with. I couldn't do that. I probably wouldn't see the girl I was going out with in a years time anyway. I just don't like high school relationships. My opinion, not theirs. But I still felt awful seeing Annabeth's face. I mean, I did just kiss her. Man I screwed up! I was glad for the excuse to get away from everyone. Music always calms me, and here was a free ticket to playing music in private. Just as long as I don't get picked to perform, this lesson could go off without a hitch.

I reached the furthest practise room, room twelve, and opened it up, shutting the door behind me. I could already feel myself relaxing as I stood there in the peace and quiet. I figured I should probably do something in case Apollo came round to inspect us and to check we weren't fooling around *cough* Leo *cough*. Luckily, I store my guitar in room twelve anyway, it's always unused so I leave it in here to be safe. I didn't trust the school band storage room. I went in there once and was ambushed by a couple of cheerleaders that had taken an interest in me. Bad memories. I flipped open the lid of the case and pulled out my guitar. At first, I couldn't figure out what to play, so I sat browsing through the songs that sounded good on guitar in my head. Most of them were too cheesy or boring to play, not really anything I could get into. But then I remembered one that I liked: Wild Hearts, by The Vamps. I actually liked their music because they weren't a typical boy band and their music suited my guitar so I began to listen and play to it. I was just about to strum the first notes when Apollo passed the window. Dam. He was going to ask me to play what I had for him, and if he liked it I would have to perform to the class. To Hades with it, I thought, and began to play anyway:

_I was walking away,_

_But she's so beautiful it made me stay_

_I don't know her name,_

_But I'm hoping she might feel the same_

_Here I go again, You got my heart!_

_Tonight we'll dance_

_I'll be yours and you'll be mine_

_We won't look back,_

_Take my hand and we will shine_

_Oh, Oh, Oh_

_She needs a wild heart [X2]_

_I've got a wild heart_

_Stay here my dear,_

_feels like I've been standing right here for years_

_My mind's made up_

_Tell me you feel this, you know I won't give up_

_I won't give up_

_Tonight we'll dance_

_I'll be yours and you'll be mine_

_We won't look back,_

_Take my hand and we will shine_

_Oh, Oh, Oh_

_She needs a wild heart [X2]_

_I've got a wild heart_

_Oh, Oh, Oh_

_She needs a wild heart [X2]_

_I've got a wild heart_

_I know it's late I know it's cold_

_So come right here and I swear I'll never let you go_

_The way move is wonderful_

_Let's do it now, cause one day we'll both me old_

_Oh woah oh_

_Tonight we'll dance_

_I'll be yours and you'll be mine_

_We won't look back,_

_Take my hand and we will shine_

_Oh, Oh, Oh_

_She needs a wild heart [X2]_

_I've got a wild heart_

_Tonight we'll dance_

_I'll be yours and you'll be mine_

_We won't look back,_

_Take my hand and we will shine_

_Oh, Oh, Oh_

_She needs a wild heart [X2]_

_I've got a wild heart_

_Oh, Oh, Oh_

_She needs a wild heart [X2]_

_I've got a wild heart_

I finished playing and looked through the window to see Apollo smiling at me and giving me a thumbs up. Oh Gods...

**Authors Notes**

Once again guys I'm so sorry for not uploading in ages! It was a motivation-block thingy and I hated it! I should be back now and hopefully posting chapters every Wednesday as usual. Please review and let me know what you like and even what you don't like about this story. The next few chapters are gonna be fun to write! I love you long time, bye!

Scott


	8. Chapter 8

Hey guys, I'm back with Chapter 8! This chapter is a bit shorter than I wanted it so I'm sorry but hopefully you will enjoy it all the same.

Fri0003: I love your suggestions and I will certainly take them into account! I will probably use them too so thanks very much! I'm glad you're liking the story so far and I will be continuing, most definitely!

Ok guys, here's Chapter 8!

**Chapter 8**

Percy's POV

Ok, now I'm really nervous. If I get picked I'll make a fool out of myself in front of everyone, I just know it. Ok, ok, breathe Percy. It could turn out well. They might not laugh, you might actually perform fine. Just because you don't want to doesn't men that you'll fail horrifically right? I'm seriously making a way bigger deal out of this than I should be but I hate being by myself. There, I said it. It's not performing that I hate, it's being up there alone, with no-one to have your back. At least in football I have the team with me, and even though swimming is more of a one person race, the water always blocks people out. When I sing I have none of that. I feel vulnerable and I hate it. I took a few deep breaths and calmed myself down. No need to worry, I got this. Come on Jackson, keep it together.

Apollo called us all back in to the classroom and asked each group or individual what they did, if they got on with it well, and what they need to improve on next time. I could barely hear Annabeth speak and I frowned inwardly. She doesn't seem quiet normally, maybe it's anxiety or something, like what happened to her in the bathroom, where she only talks normally when she's with people she's comfortable with. At once I felt sad and sympathetic towards her, but at the same time a rush of gratitude that she is comfortable around me and the guys. We're a lot to take in for most people, let alone a girl with anxiety. At last it came to me.

"Mr Jackson! What have you done today?"

I decided to play it cool, act confident and get it over with. It's what mom would tell me to do, just get on with it. "I worked on a cover of a song, sir." I replied, sounding a lot calmer than I felt.

"Excellent! Do you mind giving us a little taste?" I saw my friends glance at me with different expressions. Some of the guys grinned encouragingly, the girls made motions for me to get up, Leo pulled faces at me. But Annabeth looked concerned. I guess she knew about my fear of performing. My mouth felt dry as I stood up and strolled to the 'stage', which was basically the centre of the semicircle of chairs. My mind was screaming at me to sit back down and say that I'd hurt my throat or something, but my voice had other ideas.

"Sure, sir." I said, a Hades load more cheerful than I felt.

Apollo studied me for a moment, as did a certain blonde, before clapping his hands together.

"Take it away, Mr Jackson!" He exclaimed, doing an announcer type voice. My classmates clapped and I smiled faintly, waiting for them to settle so I could begin. I began the song and all of a sudden, everything faded away.

The real world seemed like a distant memory as I slipped away, letting the music carry me. I forgot all about my fears, my worries, everything that held me down. Somehow, I kept one image in my head the entire time. It was Annabeth. But I don't know where we were or what was happening. I was bobbing up and down as she reached a hand out to me. Why was I bobbing? I looked around and I was in a lake. I must have fallen in. That's it, we were canoeing and I had been a klutz and fallen in.

"Hold on Seaweed Brain. You're not getting away fro me that easily." She said reaching out for me. I must have said something stupid because she laughed. "You are such an idiot sometimes. Come on. Take my hand."

And just like that, the song was over. The image was gone. The world was back. I felt as if I had emerged from the river of paradise and immediately I wanted to go back. They were clapping now, and I grinned. Some of it was down to my sudden reduction in fear, some of it was definitely that image. It had felt good. No, it had felt right. I looked over at Annabeth and grinned. She started, as if confused, but then smiled back. I did a couple of mock bows to my audience and returned to my seat, still buzzing. The bell sounded outside but we paid it no attention. As it faded, Apollo strode to the centre of the room.

"Right guys, as it is the second lesson, you may carry on with what you were doing." He smiled as a few of us laughed.

"Go on, off you go!" He chuckled as we departed back to our areas. Luckily, Apollo wasn't picking anyone to perform this time, so I took it easy. I played whatever I felt like and then sat down, texting Jason, Frank, Leo, Beck and Nico. The lesson seemed to fly by and in no time at all we were once again assembled before Apollo, who thankfully told us there was no homework and then let us leave.

"Hey Perce, you wanna come over to the house for the week?" Jason asked. I stared at him confused. Why would we do that, it's school time.

"Uh, earth to Jason, it's the first day back bro, not the weekend." I replied.

"I know, I know. I just thought it would be cool, that's all." He said, looking a little put out. I hated disappointing people.

"Ok," I began, a little louder so all of our friends could hear. They gathered round, eager to hear what I was about to say. "If we can ALL, emphasis on all, get through the first half of this semester with decent grades and no fights," Their faces fell slightly, "then we can move into the house for the week of half term, together." I added, and the eagerness came back instantly. There was a chorus of 'Yeah's and 'Wahoo's from the group. "That settled? Good." I finished, glancing around at them. I noticed that a few key people were missing. "Anyone see where Annabeth, Thals, Calypso and Juniper went?" I queried. They shook their heads.

"No, but I like what you're thinking bro." Jason said. Knowing Jason, he probably did know and probably did like it.

"Ok guys, I gotta go, I'll swing by the garage later." Beckendorf and Leo grinned, it was great when we all hung out there. We worked on cars and bikes, ordered pizza and normally watched a movie or something before heading home. It was kind of our thing. Sometimes the girls came over, but more often than not, they were having a sleepover or out somewhere else together. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I made it to my motorcycle and I was just swinging my leg over it when I saw the familiar blonde princess curls that belonged to Annabeth. I started up and slowly drove towards her. She was walking away from me so I crept up (as quietly as I could on a motorbike) and drew level with her.

"Hey." I greeted her. She jumped slightly and I fought not to laugh at her expression, one of fright and something else. She tried to play it cool.

"Hey yourself." I was struggling big time now and I couldn't help but smile.

"You wanna ride home?" I asked and she stopped dead. I braked and rested on the curb beside her. Her eyes were wide.

"N-n-no it's ok thanks, I'll walk." She stammered and turned to start walking then. I decided not to push it and so changed the topic to what I really wanted to talk about instead.

"Hey, um, Annabeth?" She stopped and glanced at me, eyebrows raised. "Me and the guys, and the girls, are gonna be spending some time at the house in a couple of weeks, and I wondered if you and your friends would like to come?" She looked genuinely shocked and took a few minutes to say anything.

"Would it be all of you? For how long? Would there be an adult there?" The questions began pouring out of her, a complete change from the girl that was oh so quiet since lunch.

"Woah, slow down there Annie," Her eyes narrowed at the nickname, I made a mental note not to use it unless I wanted to annoy her. "Ok, yes, everyone that was there at lunch, plus Travis and Connor and anyone they want to bring. For the week of half term. And no there will not be an adult there permanently, we might have our parents round one night, but despite what you think we can actually manage ourselves. We've done it before and it was fine." I added, seeing her look of disbelief. She mulled it over before replying.

"I'll ask them, but I make no guarantees about any of us."

"That's great Anna... Beth." I smiled as she scowled again. "See you tomorrow?" She nodded, already retreating back to herself. I sighed as I drove off, that girl was confusing.

"Mom! I'm home!" I shouted as I walked through the front door.

"Hi sweetie! Do you have to be so loud?" Came the reply as my mom poked her head around the corner. "How was the first day?" She asked. I pretended to wince.

"Horrible, I fought with Jason, Beck and Selina split up, I had to perform in music and the Spanish teacher got fired!" I cried dramatically.

"Ok, the first two were obviously false, the last one sounds fake too, but did you actually perform?" She said.

"Only two out of four mom, you're getting rusty!" She laughed.

"Ok, so what did I get wrong?" She asked me.

"Well, the Spanish teacher did get fired and I did have to perform in music yes." I replied. She looked confused.

"So why did I only get two?" She said.

"Because you failed to answer the one about me performing!" I laughed.

"You're so pedantic!" She cried, almost as dramatically as me. Yep, you guessed it, I inherited a lot from my mother.

"And you're such a good baker!" I shouted excitedly as I caught a whiff of cookies from the kitchen. We both laughed and I stepped into her 'study' to see what she was doing. She was working on a new book from her famous "Perry Johnson" series. The fans went crazy when we took a picture together seeing as I matched the main character's description exactly. No prize for guessing which books I had a hand in. She had finished two series of them but fans still wanted more so who was she to say no? I mean, obviously she was the author, as I had pointed out at the time, but we both really enjoyed thinking of new ideas together, so the third series has been born.

"Hey! No reading just yet you!" My mom shouted, shutting her laptop. But not before I caught a glimpse of the title: The Thief of Chaos. (I know, bad title, but I couldn't think of anything else. I hope that I didn't steal anyone's title, I assure you it was pure coincidence if I did) I decided to allow her this one victory by claiming another, much larger prize than the book. The cookies. Mom clearly had the same thought as only a second after I moved she yelled out:

"Perseus Jackson you will not touch those cookies!" I laughed at the thought of my sweet, kind mom trying to be strict and not allow me to have a cookie. I raced to the kitchen and was already halfway through my second cookie before she came in. Her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Fine, I was going to make more anyway."

"Love you mom." I called out, my voice muffled by cookie.

"I know Percy, I love you too." She replied.

**Author's Notes**

So, what did you think? Not too bad eh? Hopefully this means that I'm back on track with regards to writing.

Now, I'm thinking about starting up a second fanfic and writing them at the same time. Like, one week you'll get a chapter of this, and the next I'll write a chapter of the other story. Sound good? I hope so. The options are:

How To Train Your Dragon

The Maze Runner

Please let me know which one you would like to see happen and on Chapter 10 I will announce which I will be doing. Please vote and review! I love you long time, byeee!

Scott


	9. Announcement!

I am very sorry to have to say this guys, but I am giving up this story. It wasn't going the way I wanted it to and I messed it up. I'm just not enjoying it that much anymore. I'll leave it on the account as possible inspiration to anyone that is struggling to ideas.

If anyone would like to use parts of this story then I am more than happy to oblige, but please mention where you got them. Or, if someone wants to carry this on on their own then please, be my guest. Sorry to do this guys. Please check out my new story, although it's a Harry Potter one, there is a new PJO one in the works, although I have no idea when it will be posted. Sorry again!


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